In the art, ozone generators are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,382, which issued to Wainwright on Oct. 1, 1991, described an apparatus for the controlled generation and administration of ozone gas. The apparatus disclosed by Wainwright comprises a generator for generating the ozone, a monitor for monitoring the ozone, a dosage device for providing the amount of ozone and a computer for controlling operation of the apparatus.
While Wainwright discloses an ozone generating apparatus suitable for medical application, there are aspects which affect the performance and accuracy of the device. The monitor or sensor taught by Wainwright comprises an ultra violet light source and a strobed detector. The detector is strobed by a zeon light source, but according to Wainwright, it may be strobed by another light source. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, this arrangement comprises an intrusive measurement technique. According to this technique, the ozone and oxygen gas stream is exposed to ultra violet light. The UV light interacts with the ozone and the amount of UV light which is measured by the sensor will be dependent on the concentration of the ozone gas. Because there is an interaction between the UV light and the ozone gas, the UV light affects the concentration of the ozone gas which is produced by the generator. Therefore, the ozone generator taught by Wainwright is not well-suited for applications where the ozone concentration must be very accurately controlled, nor is the Wainwright device suited for an application where the ozone sensor is in-line with the treatment.
It is object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating ozone gas having an electronic circuit capable of carefully controlling the amount of ozone being generated. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for generating ozone gas having a non-intrusive sensor for sensing the concentration of the ozone gas being produced. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ozone sensor which can be located "in-line" with the treatment path.